Down the Rabbit Hole
by MissMalfoy0203
Summary: Year 2000, Alice 'dies' in an accident, on her birthday. She wakes up to find herself in Snape's living room. So it appears that she has travelled back in time and is now...seven! Oh yeah, and has lost her memory, remembering nothing except her name and what happened the day before her 'death'. And Harry Potter. Story of an Alice and a 8-years-old Draco growing up. Long Fic. Fluff!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Of course everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, I even took bits of quotes straight out of canon. I only own Alice, who shall, if you don't mind, represent all of us Draco lovers.

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**Chapter 1**

**AN: I posted this fic a while back but got very busy with school for a while and when I returned to continue writing it, the plot just went poof and was gone. Now that it's summer, I thought I'd give it another shot and I really really really hope it would work this time. I edited the previous version, so hopefully it is better. There is no guarantee when the next chapter will be up. Hopefully in a week? I want to stock up quite a bit so just in case I get busy with things again, I have something to update with.**

**I did my research and I did the maths…Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released on the 8****th**** July 2000. Draco was born in 1980 so if Alice is a year younger she would have been born in 1981, making her 19 in 2000. And so 7 in 1988, Draco being 8.**

**I am aware that some of the details are not true to canon, such as Snape's home is actually situated in Spinner's End and is rather small, but this is fanfic right? :D**

**Please enjoy ^^**

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3rd August 2000

Alice strolled along the path. It was her 19th birthday and one of the present was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which had been released about a month ago. She had read it in one go and now she was taking her dog Chubz for a walk to give her sore eyes a rest. The girl was still thinking about the book when she crossed the road – being tugged by Chubz. So absorbed in her own thoughts, Alice was unaware of the approaching motorcycle and the girl's last thought before her head smacked into the concrete was:

"Really? On my birthday? Way to go dude."

**1.1 - A New Life**

"What happened?!" Alice thought hard, "I was thinking about...then I crossed the road...oh gosh! Did I just.._die_?!" At this thought, her eyelids flattered open. How did she reach the conclusion? Well, she wasn't in hospital she was sure of that – didn't smell like one. She wasn't in pain which was extremely odd since that motorcycle hit her with full force and knocked her into the air before she landed and smashed her skull on the ground. Therefore that led to the only possible answer, she was dead. But she didn't _feel_ dead. So the girl pinched her face, and the pain made her wince. So she was alive, she could feel pain, that's good. Wait. Alice froze in mid-action, she touched her face again. She was lucky and had good skin for a teenager and had never had a break out, yes. But no way could it compare to this. This, felt like a baby's skin, or maybe a toddler's. It was smooth and soft. She looked down at her hands, her dark brown eyes widened. A c_hild_'s hands. Chubby short fingers, they were definitely a child's hands. Alice swallowed. So she got hit by a motorcycle and had woken up in a strange place (she glanced around as she thought this) and is now a child of about 7 or 8 years old?! The door opened and two men walked in. One had cold black eyes, his greasy black hair framed his expressionless face and he wore a long black cloak. The other was an aged man who wore half-moon glasses, his blue eyes sparkling behind them. He had a long crooked nose and flowing silver hair, beard and moustache. Snape and Dumbledore. Alice froze in shock. _Snape and Dumbledore._ She repeated to herself in her head. _'No, I must have mistaken. They can't be.'_

"Hello." Dumbledore and Snape approached the sofa that Alice was sitting on, she gulped. Dumbledore smiled kindly and Snape just stared.

"Um...hi."

"Professor Snape found you outside his house, there is no need to be afraid. He is a teacher at Hogwarts, I'm sure you have heard of it. And you might know, if you collect Chocolate Frog cards, that I am the Headmaster of the school. "

"Um...I don't collect Chocolate Frog cards but yeah, I have heard of you, Professor… Dumbledore." Dumbledore smiled and nodded.

"Are you lost my dear child?" he asked.

"Erm...I don't know if the current situation I'm in can be considered as being _lost_." Alice replied carefully. So they _were_ Snape and Dumbledore which means, she was in the Wizard World? Harry Potter actually exists?! The shock was slowing turning into excitement.

"I see. Would you mind telling us your name?" Dumbledore asked.

"Al...Alice, yeah, Alice Dannison." The girl replied, though suddenly alert. Not because she was scared of the two men. But because she had to..._think_ about what her name was. Alice swallowed - her memories were gone. She doesn't remember anything except her name and day she 'died'. It was her birthday. And yes, she also had her memory about Harry Potter.

"Um...Professor Dumbledore. I think...er...I've come from somewhere else..."

"Yes?" Dumbledore seemed interested.

"...I'm a muggle." Alice continued, "and by somewhere else, I don't mean geographical location. I think I'm from a different world. Or dimension, perhaps." and she told them how she got here, leaving out the fact that she knew all about this world from reading books. She decided not to tell them about the events that had happened, just in case it was the future. Then it would be very odd if she made herself seemed like she knew all the things before they even happened. She didn't want to cause any trouble before she could be sure of what exactly was going on.

"Well, my dear, I can certainly tell you that you are not a muggle. Professor Snape sensed that you have strong magical potentials, that's why he brought you into his living room and called me here. But I'm afraid I cannot explain to you how you ended up here. Now, I will need to discuss something with Professor Snape, please do rest, it must have exhausted you travelling through a dimension." Dumbledore smiled and left with Snape.

"Professor Dumbledor." Alice stopped them just before they left the room.

"Yes?"

"Um, what's the date?" Alice asked.

"It's the 3rd of August 1988. And, happy birthday." Dumbledore replied, smiling, and exited with Snape.

_'Right, 1988…So I came to another world _and_ went back in time? It's still my birthday…great, my 7__th__ birthday.'_ Alice sighed.

Meanwhile, in another room.

"Head master?" Snape inquired.

"Severus, what do you think?" Dumbledore asked.

"It has been a strange event, but the child is telling the truth. Her magical powers are strong, but they are pure. The Shadow wouldn't have used her as a weapon. And, she wouldn't have been muggle born either, her magical potential is much higher than muggle borns. So, half-blood if not pure blood." Snape replied.

Dumbledore nodded, he looked thoughtful. There was silence for a couple of seconds.

"It would be the best if you adopt the child. Severus." Dumbledore suddenly said.

Snape looked at him.

"If that is your wish, Headmaster." he replied calmly.

They returned to the living room, Alice watched them intently.

"Alice, Professor Snape has decided to adopt you. Are you willing to legally become his child?" Alice's mouth almost fell open, but she stopped herself from doing it. As much as she liked the character, Snape _was_ rather terrifying. However, she had no idea who her parents were, she didn't know anyone in this world apart from Snape and Dumbledore, and she had no where to go. Really, she had no other choice. She thought about the consequence of accepting this – come on, it's _Snape_ we are talking about here - then finally answered in a child's unique voice, high pitched and sweet.

"Yes, I will."

It's a new life, why not.

**1.2 - First Meeting**

"Sev you have a very big house." Alice grinned, running down the stairs. Because she had lost her memories, her life experience which built up her maturity also went with it. Therefore it wasn't long before the black haired girl started acting her age.

"Thank you for your complement, but I want to make it clear that I will not take you to the hospital if you fall down the stairs and break your neck." Snape didn't look up from his book, his patience was reaching its limit although he didn't have much to start with and he had already given up trying to make Alice address him in a more respectful way.

"I'm bored." Alice complained, flopping down onto the couch near Snape's desk. She bounced herself up and down, making the springs give a squeaking noise.

"Out." Snape said through gritted teeth. Alice jumped off the couch and ran to him, looking at him with the abandoned puppy expression which she had learnt that would successful make Snape give in when she pleads for something. However she knew it can't be used too frequently otherwise it would lose its effect. The potion master sighed, annoyed with himself that he is defenceless against that look Alice has got on her face.

"Seems like it's time for the little troll to befriend some other trolls." Snape's lips curled into a crooked smile. Alice looked at him excitedly, not missing out his slightly softened expression.

"Go and get ready, we are going to pay a visit to a friend of mine. You have 5 minutes." Snape said. Alice dashed up stairs and dashed back down again 3 minutes later, changed. Snape took her hand in his and the next thing she knew she was pressed very hard from all directions. She could not breathe, as though she was being forced through a very tight rubber tube – they had apparated.

Almost instantly, they found themselves standing on a wide gravel driveway with a large hedge curving alongside it which go past a pair of wrought-iron gates. Roving along the top of the hedge were several albino peacocks, pure-white and sturring majestically. Alice was very grateful to the fact that she was empty stomached and therefore did not throw up although she did feel rather sick. After she had steadied herself, Snape led her towards the iron gates, beyond which is ahandsome manor house, reflections of sunlight glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. They walked straight through the gates as if they were smoke, much to Alice's surprise. Then they entered the manor itself. The hallway was large and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificient carpet covering most of the stone floor. A man with long blond hair greeted them, it was Lucius Malfoy.

"Well, Severus, what made you pay a visit?" Lucius Malfoy looked at Snape then at Alice who had half hid herself behind Snape. According to the books, the Malfoys were not exactly the nicest people ever.

"This little miss here is savaging my house, so I brought her here. Draco would make a good friend?" Snape explained. Sev wanted her to be friends with _Draco Malfoy_? He's doing this on purpose right? She knew Malfoy was Snape's favourite student at Hogwarts…Alice thought bitterly. She _did _like Draco the character, but making friends with him? She didn't think it would be a good idea…

Lucius, on the other hand, seemed to like the suggestion, he nodded understandingly at Snape's comment then smiled at Alice... _kindly_?! Alice looked at him with shock, she would never connect this man with the word "kind" or "warmth" which he had in his eyes.

"Of course. Draco?" the blond man called for his son.

"Good afternoon godfather and yes father?" Draco entered the room.

Alice stared. So this is Harry Potter's enemy? She thought, examining him. White blond hair, grey eyes. Exactly like how he was described in the books. Alice had always loved the character, now he is standing right in front of her. However she found it hard to supress the giggle that was about to come out of her mouth. The 'father' thing was extremely funny to her. At the glare that Snape gave her out of the corner of his eyes, she managed to hold the giggle to a friendly-ish smile. Alice had also noticed that Draco had called Snape godfather, this was different to the books or maybe just wasn't in it. At the same time, Draco took in the girl half hidden behind his godfather. She had large dark brown eyes, her gently curling black hair hang past her shoulders and her fair skin had a healthy glow. She also had a sweet smile on her face, or at least that was what it seemed to be to Draco.

"This is Alice, Severus' daughter, she is a year younger than you." Lucius introduced to his young son, still wearing the kind smile that shocked Alice, "and this is my son Draco, Alice, may I call you that?"

"Um..of course sir." Alice replied with a small bow, Lucius looked approvingly at her.

"Draco, why don't you take Alice to your play room? She is getting rather lonely by herself at Severus' place."

"Yes, father."Draco looked at Alice and smiled, "come on." Alice smiled back and followed him upstairs. Maybe the Malfoys weren't so bad after all.

"Do you like flying?" Draco asked the younger girl.

"Um...you mean broomsticks?" The blond boy nodded, "yeah, it's quite fun."

Alice replied in a friendly tone although she had never flew on broomsticks before, just in case that the young Malfoy would turn nasty if she disagreed.

"Great! I love flying! Have you played Quidditch before? We can play that if you like."

Alice had never enjoyed sport, but she couldn't remember this fact of course. From the little memory she had of Quidditch, she decided it would be a fun game. So, she agreed. Draco got out two toy broomsticks that hovered about a meter off the ground, 6 hoops about the same height as the broomsticks and a box which contained the Quidditch balls. He placed three on each side of the huge room.

"These are not the real ones. Father says I'm too young to play with the real things, but I've read all about them in books and when I go to Hogwarts, I'll play for my house which will be Slytherin of course. You know Hogwarts right? And the houses?" the boy asked. Alice nodded.

"Which house do you reckon you'll be in? I hope it's Slytherin, don't go to Gryffindour - father says that's where the idiots end up. If you are in Slytherin, I can protect you, I'm a year older." Draco said, he really liked this girl, with her soft black hair and beautiful clear eyes. He took Alice's hand and held it tightly in his own, "Come on, let's play Quidditch. We'll be chasers and keepers at the same time for our team, let's use the bludger because it flies on its own. The hoops are the goal posts, try to get hold of the bludger and toss it through one of the hoops. The other one would have to guard their goal posts obviously. One goal is 10 points."

He told Alice a few other rules and they spent the rest of the afternoon playing. Alice had never played the game before so naturally Draco won, also maybe because that Alice was not the sporty type anyway. Draco had fast reflexes so he was a very good keeper and had managed to block almost all of the goals Alice had attempted to shoot, causing her to shake her little fist at him in frustration. However they did both enjoy the game very much and had a good time. Halfway through they got a little bored so they switched to play tag instead and chased each other around the magnificent playroom on the toy broomsticks. Lucius came into the room once to check on them and was very pleased that the two children were playing so well together. Time passed quickly for the them and soon it was almost dinner time.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Draco asked, a little breathless after the exercise.

"I don't know, I'll have to ask Sev."

Draco watched her in amazement.

"What is it?" Alice asked, puzzled at Draco's expression.

"You just called him Sev?" Draco asked.

"Yeah." Alice nodded.

"And he lets you call him that?"

"Well he sort of gave up trying to make me address him in another way. So yeah, I guess."

"He really likes you then. Godfather would probably jinx other people if they don't do what he says." Draco said, fascinated, "how did you become his daughter anyway? You are adopted, right?"

"Long story." Alice sighed, then she told Draco everything. Children are like that, if another kid is nice to them, they become best buddies immediately. So being a child herself, there were no reasons not to tell Draco these things, after she decided that Draco was a very nice person.

"Wow, so even Dumbledore don't know how this happened. Apparently he's the best wizard in the world, so I've read. Father don't like him though, says he's a lunatic. And…does this mean you are not a pure blood then?" Draco frowned. Snape hadn't told Alice that it was almost definite that she was not a muggle born since he thought it was unnecessary information for a 7-year-old. Because she didn't know this, Alice became nervous. She wasn't sure if the pure-blood-believer Malfoys would still accept her if she was a muggle born.

"I don't remember who my parents were, but no, I don't think I'm a pure blood." Alice replied honestly, there was no point in being friends with Draco if he dislikes her just because of her blood status. Nevertheless she looked nervously at Draco who nodded and looked thoughtful, after a while he replied.

"Well, I don't mind. I like you, and you are Godfather's daughter now so it doesn't matter. But it's risky whether or not you will get into Slytherin though…I really hope you would."

Alice smiled, so he still likes her and was willing to be her friend, he had just been worrying that she won't get into Slytherin.

"I hope so too." Alice replied sincerely.

Snape and Alice did stay for dinner in the end as Narcissa Malfoy insisted. She was a beautiful and elegant woman, but also a loving mother. She really liked Alice and half bullied Snape into letting her be Alice's godmother. (Alice and Draco silently laughing as Snape gave in under Narcissa's 'attack') She also made Alice call her mum, like Draco. Alice accepted this very willingly. Women are scarily powerful creatures, she commented mentally to herself, giggling. The two children became a little upset as it was time for Snape and Alice to leave, Draco hugged her and gave her one of his toy broom sticks as a present.

"Do visit again soon." Narcissa, who had also hugged Alice and gave her a kiss on the cheek, said as they prepared to leave.

"Of course I will, mum."

"Then we can play Quidditch again." Draco said, smiling. Alice nodded happily.

"You will always be welcomed at Malfoy Manor." Lucius Malfoy said kindly. Alice waved, then she apparated with Snape back to their home.

**1.3 – The Tree House**

August came to an end, it was soon only a week until September – the start of a new school year, which meant Snape must return to Hogwarts to teach.

"Sev I'll miss you." Alice hugged her guardian around the waist as she could only reach that high and said miserably.

"Stop whining like a baby, I'll be back during the holidays." Although his words were not kind, there was gentleness in his voice. "And don't get into any trouble." He added. He decided to leave Alice with the Malfoys during his absence, Narcissa was more than happy to take care of the angelic girl and Draco was even more pleased with the arrangement than his mother.

"Bye Sev." Alice rubbed her eyes with her free hand, Draco standing by her side holding the other.

"Have a safe journey godfather." Draco said. Alice rolled her eyes at this but quickly put on a sweet fake smile as she felt Snape's eyes on her then dropped her face again.

The adults exchanged a few more comments before Snape departed, his eyes still on Alice as he apparated.

"Draco I want to go to Hogwarts now." Alice said, pouting and staring at the spot where Snape had vanished. She won't have anyone to annoy if Snape was gone. The blond boy hugged her comfortingly.

"We'll both be going in 4 years time." He reassured her, "come on, I'll show you the dragon models I got for my birthday." Draco tried to take the girl's mind off of her seperation with her father. Still holding her hand, Draco lead Alice to his play room. Being a child, Alice was easily distracted as soon as Draco got out the moving little figures. There were 10 of them, one of each species. 3 of them were blowing flames that did not burn, 2 were sleeping (Draco tickled their belly to wake them up), the rest were just jumping about.

"They are fascinating aren't they? I love dragons, I got loads of books about them so I know all about them. Even my name means dragon in Latin. I hope to get a real dragon one day." Draco said happily although still in his slightly arrogant tone.

"But aren't they really big? I heard they are really dangerous and hard to tame."

"Yeah, but I'm sure I'll make a good dragon trainer, that's what I want to be when I'm older." Draco smiled, relieved that Alice is distracted from her sadness. However Alice noticed that he wasn't convinced by his own words, she understood the reasons too well. Draco was the only child of the Malfoy family which meant he would have to take over the family business. The young boy knew his responsilities.

They played with the mini dragons (this involved a lot of poking and tickling and pulling wings and tails) then played Quidditch for a while but Alice soon lost her interest, she became absent minded and as she half lounged at the toy Bludger that Draco threw at the hoops, she fell off her broomstick. Draco immediately jumped off his and hurriedly towards her.

"Alice, are you hurt?" the older boy asked, worried. The girl bit her lower lip as tears gathered in her large eyes, this made Draco even more concerned as he interpreted this as 'Alice was in pain'.

"No, I miss Sev." The tears finally fell and Alice started crying.

Narcissa who was passing by, heard the cry and entered the room in a very lady like fashion though her face was full of worry.

"Draco what happened? Is Alice unwell?" she asked, frowning. Draco explained to her what happened, the lady patted Alice's back gently. The mother and son comforted Alice and she soon calmed down.

"I'm sor…sorry." Alice hiccuped, her eyes red from the crying. Narcissa looked kindly at her.

"It's okay, dear. I understand." She wiped the tears from Alice's face with her silk handkerchief then said some more comforting words before turning to her son.

"Draco, look after Alice, I still have some work to attend to."

"I will, mum." Draco promised. Narcissa looked approvingly at him, "good boy. If there's any other problems come and find me." The boy nodded. Narcissa kissed them both on the forehead then left, Alice blushing a little.

"Are you alright now Alice?" Draco asked, Alice gave her a small smile and nodded. Draco grinned back and got up from the carpeted floor, he helped Alice up too.

"Come on, I'll show you something." He said, thinking of new ways to take Alice's mind off things. The girl looked curiously at him, the blond boy's grin widened.

They went down stairs and as soon as they were outside, Draco started running, holding Alice's hand.

"Dra..Draco, slow down." Alice stumbled behind him, "where…where are we going?" she asked breathlessly. "Draco!"

Draco finally stopped underneath a large tree in the garden.

"You need exercising." He commented, smiling. Alice looked at him a little crossly.

"Draco, if your dad saw you just now…" she said, still trying to catch her breath.

"He wouldn't have." Draco tapped Alice's nose lightly, laughing at the expression on her face, "and he wouldn't know, if you don't say anything." He ruffled Alice's soft hair. Then he pressed his palm against the tree trunk and muttered something, a ladder lowered itself to the ground. Alice watched it in amazement.

"Climb up." Draco said to Alice who looked at the ladder reluctantly, not knowing what might be waiting for her.

"There are no monsters up there I guarantee, and I'll catch you if you fall." He reassured her as if he was able to read her mind. They climbed up the ladder, Alice in lead, and arrived in a small room – it's a tree house. The small girl's face lit up.

"Welcome, to my secret hide-out." Draco smiled, "no one can get in here except me. You are the first visitor, and probably the last. Father and mum had never been in here, not even Pansy and Blaise, nor has godfather, I dread the consequences if he finds out."

"Why? Sev is not that bad, if you know what to do." Alice was pleased with the fact that she was the first visitor ever to be in Draco's secret hide-out, she hugged him and looked up at his face as he was a head taller than her even though he was only a year older.

"Only you would say that." Draco chuckled. Alice let go of him and looked around the circular room. There was a small desk with books, some quills and ink. Opposite the desk on the other side of the room was a sofa and in the corner of the romm, a toy broomstick

"How many broomsticks do you have?" Alice wondered, walking to the sofa and sat down.

"Quite a few." Draco replied with a grin, Alice chucked a cushion at his smug face, Draco caught it before it hit him then walked over to the sofa and sat down too.

"Boys." Alice shook her head with a deliberate sigh. Draco gave her a crooked smile in response.

"Who are Blaise and Pansy anyway?" Alice decided it was the best to hide her knowledge about this world, for now.

"They are my friends, actually we are going to Diagon Alley with them tomorrow. You'll be able to meet them then." If Draco turned out to be really nice, so might the other two, Alice thought. And Diagon Alley! It sounded amazing in the books, she really couldn't wait for tomorrow. She was sure it was going to be a brilliant day!

Nine o'clock, bed time. The two children said goodnight to each other then went into their own room which were at opposite end of the corridor. Alice looked at the big room that Narcissa had decorated for her in the afternoon while she and Draco were playing.

"Do you like it dear? If not, I can always change it." Narcissa asked. Alice hugged her and smiled happily.

"I love it, mum." She replied, glancing around. The walls were pale blue with glittering stars, the ceiling was enchanted so it looked like fluffy white clouds. There was a white wardrobe at the far end of the room, taking up the whole wall and a huge bed, also white, occupied the other end. Alice climbed into the huge bed with her teddy bear that Sev had bought for her, Narcissa kissed her goodnight and switched off the light for her.

"Good night darling, have a sweet dream." She said before she left for Draco's room.

"Night mummy."

Alice curled up under the duvet, hugging her teddy bear tightly. The scent that the teddy had reminded her of her home with Sev, she started missing him again. So for a while, she lay there awake, and when she finally fell asleep she started having nightmares. There was Voldemort, standing on a heap of dead bodies, amongst them were Snape, Draco, Lucius, Narcissa, Dumbledore, the Trio and many other faces she recognised. Alice jerked awake with a whimper, her face was damp, she wiped it with her hand - they were tears. The girl got off the bed, picked up the teddy bear which had fallen off the bed and left her room. She walked down the moonlit corridor, where shadows hid. Alice got a little scared. The portraits were asleep, Alice's silent footsteps on the carpet did not wake them. A few stirred then continued snoring. Finally, she arrived outside her destination room. Alice quietly opened the oak door and went inside, closing it behind her. The room was also washed white in the moonlight. The small girl walked over to the huge bed, a small bulge in the duvet suggested someone was asleep in it.

"Draco." She whispered, the boy did not move.

"Draco." Alice called a little louder and the shape stirred. Draco slowly opened his eyes, when he saw who it was, he sat up.

"Alice, what's wrong?" he asked, quite awake now. His fingertips touch Alice's arm gently, "gosh, you are freezing." he lifted up his duvet, waiting for Alice to get on the bed.

"I'm having nightmares." Alice said as she climbed onto the bed, Draco wrapped her in the warm duvet.

"It's alright now, you are awake, it's not real." Draco thought of the comforting words his mum used when he had nightmares. Then he started humming the lullaby Narcissa had sang him to sleep when he was little. Alice smiled and closed her eyes, soon she was asleep.

"Night." Draco mumbled groggily and was also asleep within seconds.

**1.4 – Dobby the House Elf and New Friends**

The next morning, the children got dressed, washed and went down for breakfast. Seeing the feast that was on the table, Alice suddenly remembered something.

"Draco, who makes these?" she asked, biting into a sausage.

"House elves of course." the boy answered, "why are you asking?"

"Nah, just thought they are really delicious so I wondered who to thank for all these." Alice lied, the truth was, she wanted to meet Dobby the house elf.

"You wouldn't need to thank them." Draco half sniggered, "they'll start hitting themselves if you did."

"Um, why?" Alice felt a little uncomfortable with the expression Draco had on his face.

"Didn't you know? Anyway you are not suppose to be kind to them." Draco replied carelessly, after swallowing his last mouthful.

"But that's not right." Alice said defensively, all three blond heads turned toward her, "you have to be nice to people who do stuff for you, right?"

"They are not people." Draco pointed out cleverly.

"It has nothing to do with right or wrong, my dear, it's just the way it is. They are slaves to us, that's how they were created to be." Narcissa explained patiently, "House elves are devoted and loyal to the one designated as their master. Our orders are their highest law."

"Still, I thought it would be nice to say thank you. And, you will gain their willingness if you are nice to them, that makes the whole attitude different, right? They would do their jobs happily." Alice said, she had now stopped eating her breakfast. Narcissa looked startled, she had never thought about this before. And by the look on Lucius Malfoy's face, nor has he, which was obvious. Their pride and superiority of their pure blood made them oblivious to these things. Alice looked nervously at the three Malfoys.

"Well…" Lucius started after a while, he looked at Narcissa then said "I'm not sure about the other house elves, but Dobby might…_appreciate_ that." His lips curled.

"Dobby!" Lucius called. With a faint pop, the house elf appeared. Like how he was described in the books, the little creature had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. He looked very scared and reluctant. His eyes darted between his masters and finally laid his eyes on Lucius who had called for him.

"Yes, Master?" Dobby said shakily.

"This young lady here would like to…_thank_ you."

Dobby's gaze switched to Alice who gave him a little smile, "hello Dobby, I just wanted to say thank you for the delicious meals you have prepared for us." She slightly emphasised the word 'us'.

"But..but no one had ever said thank you to Dobby." Dobby's large eyes widened even further, he looked nervous. Then he picked up the chair next to him and started banging his head with it, repeatedly muttering 'bad Dobby' at the same time. Alice flinched back at his reaction.

"Dobby, stop!" Draco yelled, his eyes on Alice. At his small master's command, Dobby stopped.

"As you can see darling, they don't accept the kind words." Narcissa put her hands on Alice's shoulders.

"He'll learn to appreciate it, I'm sure." Alice argued stubbornly. She knew the other house-elves would be hopeless, Hermione's attempt had proved this, but Dobby definitely wasn't one of them.

"Well, you can try. But I doubt you'll get very far, my dear. Now, have more breakfast, you hardly touched anything."

"Yes, mom."

After breakfast, Alice and Draco went back in the playroom.

"You too, be nice to them." Alice said, pulling on the ears of a toy bunny rabbit making it squeak. Narcissa had two chests of toys delivered for Alice the previous day in preparation for her moving in to the Malfoy Manor since most of the toys Draco owned were not appealing to girls, although Alice do like the Quidditch set and the dragon models.

"If that's what you want." Draco sighed, "Why would you care anyway?"

"Because it's a nice thing to do." Alice replied, chucking the rabbit at Draco who ducked with fast reflex.

"Alright then. But Alice, you got this thing for throwing things at people huh?" the boy threw the rabbit back at her, Alice caught it with ease then hurled it straight into Draco's face. And a rabbit war started. Soon they were both laughing and short of breath, Alice held up her arms in surrender.

"Blaise and Pansy are coming in about half an hour then we'll go to Diagon Alley together, " After they had both calmed down, Draco informed Alice, sitting down next to her. "so what do you want to do now?"

Alice shrugged. According to the books, or Hermione anyway, Pansy looked like a pug. The two were loyal members of Draco's gang and were equally as bad as him with Pansy being the female version of Draco.

"Tell me about Blaise and Pansy." she said in the end.

"Well, they are both the same age as me and they have been my friends since about 5. They are alright, they are both pure blood." Draco replied.

"'Alright'? That's the best word you can come up with to describe your friends?"

"What else then? That's my opinion, they are alright. We see each other a few times a month and we play, that's about it." Draco shrugged.

"Fine, what do you think of me then?" Alice asked, still fiddling with the toy rabbit. Draco thought for a few moments, frowning a little.

"Um…I like you, you are really nice. And…we are friends." was what the 8-year-old finally came up with. Alice laughed.

"What?" Draco asked defensively.

"Nothing, I like you too. And yeah, we are friends." Alice replied honestly with a toothy grin. Draco relaxed, he thought he had said something wrong.

In the end the two decided to play hide and seek to pass the time. The Malfoy Manor offered more than enough hiding place as it was so big. Draco hid under a bed in one of the guest rooms and it only took Alice three minutes to find him. The girl complained that he was too predictable then set off to find the perfect hiding place for herself. But the problem this time was that because it was such a good hiding place (in a tree in the magnificent garden – Alice asked one of the gardeners to lift her up), Alice waited for 15 minutes before she got too bored and called for Draco. However she couldn't get down because the gardener had forgotten about her and left so Draco had to return to the building and get help. By the time Alice had been rescued from the tree, Pansy and Blaise had already arrived and Narcissa was so angry, not at Alice of course, that she fired the gardener immediately even though Alice did try to save the poor guy's job and told Narcissa that he had done nothing wrong.

At eleven o'clock they finally set off for Diagon Alley, by portkey. Alice was bubbling with anticipation as it was her first visit. After the hook-behind-naval sensation, four children and one adult were standing in the bustling street of Diagon Alley. The three older ones acted very mature and asked Alice where she wanted to go. However this was her first time here and she couldn't remember most of the shops at Diagon Alley so Narcissa took the four to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and bought them an ice cream each while Pansy, Blaise and Draco told Alice about the different shops.

"There's Sugarplum's Sweets Shop." Pansy said. Alice thought she was quite pretty and Pansy had been very nice to her, probably because of Draco, but she liked Pansy anyway.

"And Magical Menagerie where they sell pets and pet supplies." Blaise added. He was a good looking boy too and was also very kind to Alice.

"You can practically find any type of animal there. Rats, cats, owls, transforming rabbits, Puffskeins…" Pansy expanded on Blaise's comment.

"I like Quality Quidditch Supplies, and I think you'll like it too." Draco said, finishing off his ice cream.

"Let's go to the sweet shop first, then go to all the other places!" Alice decided happily.

So they went to Sugarplum's Sweets Shop and bought a bag of sweets each including Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Then they visited Magical Menagerie and Alice poked a few Puffskeins. After that they went to Quality Quidditch Supplies and spent half an hour in there. Alice then dragged the lot to Flourish and Blotts and Narcissa bought her a small mountain of books after seeing how much she loved reading. They had lunch in a fancy restaurant and finally in the afternoon, after Pansy and Blaise were collected by their parents, Narcissa took Alice and Draco to Twilfitt and Tatting's and bought a whole wardrobe of pretty clothes for Alice.

By the time they had arrived home, both children were exhausted. They went up to Draco's room and flopped down on the king sized bed. The boy's room was very much like Alice's, with a giant wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a desk and chair and an ensuite bathroom. It was very tidy, thanks to magic.

"So…what do you think of Pansy and Blaise? You liked them, obviously." Draco said.

"Yes I do like them, they are nice." the seven-year-old replied.

"Good." Came the blond boy's brief answer.

Alice lay on Draco's bed contently. She had made friends, met Dobby, visited Diagon Alley. Life is treating her pretty well, she was definitely enjoying it. The girl thought happily, her mind starting to drift off. When Draco called her name softly a few minutes later, there was no response.

Alice was asleep.

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**So did you like it? Please review and tell me what you think :)**

**Criticism definitely welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Same as before, I still own nothing except Alice.**

**A/N: Change of plan, I finished Chapter 2 early as I have decided to put 2.4 into the beginning of chapter 3 instead so there will only be three parts in Chapter 2. And I'm posting it now. 8D**

**Thanks to everyone that has reviewed. ^^**

* * *

Chapter 2 2.1 – Letter From Hogwarts

Three Years Later

"Draco, has the owl arrived yet?" The girl with curly black hair asked the blond boy opposite her who was reading.

"No I don't think so." Draco replied, he looked up briefly at the girl then returned to his book, "Merlin, Alice you are even more nervous than I am."

Alice puffed out her cheeks, "Can't help it. I mean, come on! You'll be going to Hogwarts in about 2 months, aren't you even excited?" Draco shrugged. The girl made a face at him.

"I'll go check." Alice said, running out of the room. Draco smiled, still with his head down.

Half an hour later, when Alice did not return, Draco laid down his book and started looking for her. Having no success in the house, Draco headed for the garden. He stopped under the big tree and called the ladders down, which led to his…no, _their _tree house. He had changed the ownership to include both of them a week after Alice officially moved into the Malfoy Manor so Alice could access the secret hide-out at any time. As he had expected, Alice was indeed at the tree house.

"Letter is not here yet." Alice said without looking up from the mini dragon models she was playing with as Draco entered.

"Why? Are you really that eager to get away from me? Am I that terrible?" Draco mocked jokingly.

"You're the one that's leaving." Alice muttered, a hint of sulkiness in her voice.

"Going to miss me?" Draco grinned, leaning towards Alice who knocked him lightly on the head.

"You wish."

"Ouch that hurts." The blond boy was still grinning, there wasn't anything in his expression that suggested pain. However, seeing the look on Alice's face, he became a little serious.

"I'll write twice a week, I promise. And I'll be back for the holidays." He said sincerely, staring into Alice's eyes. The young girl nodded, still a little unhappy.

"Pinkie promise?" She looked up at Draco and held out her hand. Draco smiled and linked his own finger with Alice's smaller one.

"If you break the promise…" Alice thought hard, "…a goblin will visit at night and steal all of your dragon models. And your broom sticks." she added with a scowl to make herself look more convincing. Draco laughed at her cute face, earning another punch.

"You are a girl, don't be so violent." He said, ruffling Alice's soft black hair.

"Pfff." The girl scoffed, brushing Draco's hand off.

There was a pause when neither of the two spoke and just observed the moving dragon models.

"I promise, ok?" Draco said lightly. Alice looked at him again then hugged her friend tightly.

The two children stayed at their tree house for the rest of the morning. When it was lunch time, they headed towards the main building.

"Master, a letter has been delivered to you." With a faint pop Dobby appeared in front of them as soon as they stepped into the house, bowing so low that the tip of his long nose touched the floor. He presented the letter to Draco.

"Thank you Dobby." Alice said, then poked Draco to remind him to do the same- thank Dobby, that is.

"Thank you Dobby." The boy also showed his appreciation.

Dobby froze. Then he started wailing and banged his head against the thickly carpeted floor. When he realised that the ground wasn't hard enough, he ran to the nearest wall and started hitting his head there. Alice let out a small sigh; three years and still not much improvement. Whenever she or Draco said anything nice or just a common courtesy such as "thank you", the little house elf would go frantic and start abusing himself. Time and time again Draco asked Alice why didn't she just give up showing kindness to Dobby, her answer would always be a simple "I don't want to." So in the end Draco just stopped asking.

"Draco! It's from Hogwarts! Quick, open it." Dannie glanced at the envelope and said excitedly. Draco smiled, carefully breaking the seal and took out the parchment. There were two pages, and the first page read:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr Malfoy, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. _

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than June 5. _

_Yours sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress _

Draco gave the first page to Alice to read and turned to the second page.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM _

_First-year students will require: _

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings) _

_Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

_COURSE BOOKS _

_All students should have a copy of each of the following: _

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda Goshawk_

A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot_

Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling_

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch_

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore_

Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger_

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander_

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT _

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad. _

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS_

_ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_

_Yours sincerely, _

_Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus_

_Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions _

"Are you going to get a cat or an owl? You are not going to bring a toad, right?" Alice asked, Draco looked at her.

"How did you know the pet choices? You haven't seen this page yet." Alice looked a little startled, Draco raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

"I…read it somewhere. A book." she replied, which wasn't a lie.

"I don't think any book would have this information in it." Draco said slowly. Alice sighed, she really couldn't bring herself to lie to Draco. So she told Draco about the Harry Potter books she had read, including the fact that he was very mean in them.

"That, is not at all correct," Alice added quickly, "you are not mean." Draco smirked at this.

"Why haven't you told me this before?" Draco frowned.

"I haven't told anyone else." Alice replied – Draco was upset and she didn't want to make things worse.

"But we are best friends." The boy said calmly.

"Well, I'm telling you about it now." Alice was starting to feel a little desperate.

"When I _asked_. Are you ever going to tell me if I didn't ask?" Draco was still calm but it made Alice even more uneasy. She would rather Draco be mad at her than remaining quiet as this meant that he was more sad than angry. Draco sighed when Alice gave no reply.

"I'm going to give this to father, I'll see you later." And with that he turned around and walked off, leaving Alice standing alone, not sure what to do.

Draco gave the letter to Lucius who was having a leisurely chat with Narcissa.

"Letter from Hogwarts." Draco said simply then turned around to leave. Narcissa frowned.

"What's wrong Draco?" She asked with concern. Her son looked upset, has he had an argument with Alice?

"Nothing mum." He replied casually.

"Draco, I think we need to have a talk." Lucius put down the letter on the small coffee table and exchanged a look with his wife.

"What happened?" The man asked, straight to the point. Although he didn't show it the way his wife did, he still cared deeply about his son and Alice. He was a very strict but loving father. So when his son looked troubled, of course he would try to help him solve the problem. Narcissa beckoned Draco to come and sit with them, he did.

"Alice didn't tell me something, but I found out anyway."

"How did you find out?" Lucius asked.

"I asked her, and she told me."

"So why are you still being like this?" The question came from Narcissa this time.

"I hoped that she would tell me without me having to ask her. I thought we were closer than this."

"The fact that she did tell you, doesn't it speak for itself? I'm not going to ask what she hid from you, but she must had her reasons. Did you listen to her?" Draco shook his head, "I think it's clear what you need to do, and I'm pretty sure that she is just as upset as you are at the moment, if not more."

"She said she hasn't told anyone else…" Draco said quietly, Lucius nodded knowingly. He had got his message across. The boy looked at his parents gratefully.

"Can I go and find Alice now?" He asked for permission to leave.

"Of course." Lucius smiled, "And Draco, congratulations on getting into Hogwarts."

Draco returned the smile and set off in search for Alice.

She wasn't where Draco had left her so he ran straight to their tree house and bursted through the door, breath quickened and heart beating fast, hoping to find the little girl there. But the tree house was empty. She wasn't in the red room with the giant windows showing the view of the beautiful garden that she liked very much. Draco looked out of them, Alice wasn't in the garden either. He went upstairs. She wasn't in their playroom. Draco pushed open the oak door of Alice's bedroom and there she finally was, sitting curled up in the corner. She looked upset but she wasn't crying, yet.

At the sight of Draco, Alice whimpered and finally broke into tears. Draco quickly walked over to her, mentally kicking himself for causing the girl's misery.

"I'm sor…sorry Draco…"

Draco pulled her into his arms and the girl sobbed into his shoulder, her voice muffled.

"It's okay. I should be the one apologising. I'm sorry, Alice, for being awful. You must had your reasons for not telling me about those things and I should have listened to them instead of walking off thinking you are not a good enough friend to me. And I'm sorry, for making you cry." Draco apologised sincerely, Alice cried harder.

"How…how could you thin…think that I don't think of you as my be…best frien…end." Alice sobbed, unable to form coherent sentences.

"I know…I shouldn't have. I'm sorry Alice." Draco repeated, still holding Alice in his arms. Alice struggled against his grip. Draco panicked, thinking that Alice didn't want his comfort. He let go, waiting for whatever rage Alice was going to throw at him. He knew he deserved it.

"You are for…forgiven." Alice said brokenly, much to Draco's surprise. Then she snuggled back into Draco's arms, still hiccuping.

"Thank you." Draco replied, relieved.

2.2 – Draco's Birthday

Alice woke up early in the morning. She flipped herself over so that she was on her belly and dangled the top half of her body over the bed then fished out a cuboid object from under there. She grinned, jumping off her bed and ran out of her room. Heading for? Draco's room of course.

"Draco! Wake up!" Alice shook the lump in the bed.

"Wh…what time is it?" Draco rubbed his eyes tiredly, he had been reading until quite late again the previous night. Snape had started setting him work to do since last year in preparation for going to Hogwarts. In his words, "I don't want to teach one extra miniature troll with an empty brain starting from next September." But really he just wanted his God child to be the best when he starts at Hogwarts by giving him a head start. Draco knew that it was his God father's slightly twisted way of showing that he cared so although it was tiring, he didn't complain.

"Seven, roughly. Happy birthday!" Alice's grinning face came into focus, Draco smiled.

"Thanks." He became slightly more awake and sat up, "But it's so early. Couldn't you wake me a bit later?" Draco yawned.

"Lazy pig." Alice bashed him lightly with the wrapped box she had got out from under the bed earlier.

"Here, present. I wrapped it myself, no help at all from mum." The girl said proudly.

She and Narcissa had gotten very close over the years and the Malfoy couple loved Alice as much as they loved Draco. In Narcissa's words: "Alice has a father, but a child needs a mum too." She was beyond delighted to have Alice living with them for the majority part of the years as she had always wanted a daughter, to dress up in pretty outfits and do other things that she could not do with a son, this resulted in a space expansion spell having to be put on the wardrobe in Alice's room. She had even hoped that Alice could reside at Malfoy Manor during school holiday time too when Snape returned from Hogwarts, but Alice said that she wanted to stay with Snape for the small amount of time of the year so the matter was settled this way. Although Snape made unpleasant comments about this out of habit, he didn't show any other sign of distress and was content with the arrangement and since Alice couldn't stand long time separation with Draco, she visited the Malfoy Manor at least twice a week and Draco came around his Godfather's home about three times a week to keep Alice company.

"I am now two years older than you." Draco smirked, carefully unwrapping the present.

"For only two months." Alice pointed out, "Not even that. Your birthday is June 5th and mine is August 3rd. So two months minus two days. Do you like the present? "

Draco smiled at the photobook of dragons he had just received.

"It's brilliant. Thanks." He hugged Alice then yawned again.

"Seriously, when did you go to sleep last night?" Alice asked, not pleased.

"Late. Had to finish a book assigned by Godfather, today's the deadline. He's coming over today." Draco replied.

"He's not going to set you more work for today is he? Because that would be mean, it's your birthday." Alice frowned, Draco shrugged. "Urgh! That reminded me, Sev is going to start giving _me _work to do as soon as I turn ten!" She pouted, extremely unhappy. Draco ruffled her hair sympathetically.

"Aw..It's not that bad." The boy tried to cheer her up.

"Draco, I've seen the amount he had set you. I consider that _bad_."

"Oh okay…Sorry, there's not much I can do. Maybe he won't set as much for you? I'm too tired, I'm going back to sleep. You?" Draco asked, lying back down.

"I do hope so. And I'll stay here, it's effort to get back to my room. But what about the rest of the presents?" Alice asked, gesturing towards the pile at the foot of Draco's bed.

"And you call me lazy. The presents can wait." With that, the blond boy entered dreamland again. Alice lay down beside him on the huge bed and soon fell asleep too.

When Narcissa came into her son's room to wake him, she smiled at the sight before her. The two children were sleeping contently facing each other and holding hands. They had become inseparable in the past three years. Draco always acting like a protective older brother and looked after Alice while the latter was equally as good to him. They were best friends and family. But unlike most real siblings, they rarely argued and even if they did, they made up very quickly. The bond between them was tight.

Half an hour later, the children were dressed and washed and were eating breakfast. Draco had opened the rest of his presents. Clothes, books and a real broomstick (to be played under supervision but Draco was extremely pleased nevertheless. Come on, it was a Nimbus Two Thousand!) from his parents, all the textbooks that he will need for his first year at Hogwarts and potion ingredients from Snape, a dragon shaped necklace from Pansy, a dragon skin money bag from Blaise and quite a bit of golden galleons from other relatives. He had invited their friends Pansy and Blaise over and it was a good thing that his birthday was during the half term holiday _(I think it's mid-semester in America?) _so Snape could be there too. When the man arrived in the gigantic hallway of Mafoy Manor, Alice launched herself straight at him.

"Where is your etiquette, Miss Dannison?" Snape questioned, pulling the little octopus off of himself but Alice immediately clung back on.

"I missed you Sev." Alice looked up at her legal guardian

"Sentiment." Snape muttered.

"Severus, good morning." Lucius greeted his friend briefly, the latter nodded once in response.

"Don't be ridiculous Severus, 'Miss Dannison'? She's your daughter for goodness sake." Narcissa looked disapprovingly at Snape.

"I don't need to be reminded again what trouble I had got myself into by agreeing to adopt this little troll, Cissy." Snape replied, eyeing Narcissa levelly. Alice rolled her eyes and bit him for his snarky remark but was not at all upset – she got to know Snape pretty well in the three years to know that he didn't mean what he just said.

"Come on Sev, we know how much you love this child." Narcissa smiled. Snape ignored her, maybe to avoid answering her, and turned to his Godson.

"Draco you have aged another year, let's hope that thing sitting on your neck has more things in it since your previous birthday. Have you finished all the work I have set you last week?" The man asked.

"You could just have said 'Happy birthday'…" Alice mutterd under her breath. Snape narrowed his eyes.

"Yes Godfather, I finished everything." Draco replied quickly.

"Very well, then…" Before Snape could carry on, Alice had let go of him and stood very defensively in front of Draco with her arms flung to the sides, shielding the boy behind her. Snape looked at her indifferently while the three Malfoys all had an amused expression on their faces.

"Stop! Sev it's Draco's birthday today! You can't set him anymore work! He went to bed late last night because of all those books you told him to read, don't be mean!" Alice stood firmly in her position with a "threatening" look. Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Alice, I hope you are not stupid and can see clearly that this is for Draco's benefit. Unless he wants to be just as empty headed as the rest of first year students…Although I must say I think that apart from the one or two who are slightly gifted, all the students are absolutely useless, not just the first years. And it's his problem if he didn't manage his time wisely."

"Severus, although I do agree with you that the prep work is necessary, it _is_ Draco's birthday. So, give it a rest today." Lucius stepped in, putting a hand on Draco's shoulder in a very fatherly fashion. Snape raised a questioning eyebrow at his friend but nodded nevertheless. Alice grinned and turned around to highfive Draco.

Pansy and Blaise arrived soon after and the children went to the playroom while the adults chatted in the drawing room. It wasn't long before they were at war. Blaise cried for help as Alice and Pansy threw soft toys at him.

"Yo Draco, help me. It's me against two here. Girls are violent." And that earned him another rabbit in the face.

"This is childish, I'm not playing." Draco replied, calmly observing the one sided battle.

"Come on Draco, that's not what you said few years back." Alice grinned, attacking the blond boy with a teddy bear which was easily caught and thrown back.

"Exactly, few years back. I was a child then."

"You still are one." Alice rolled her eyes.

"Loosen up Draco." Pansy said playfully.

"Please~" Alice changed strategy and put on her abandoned puppy face. Draco had about the same level of immunity to the expression as Snape did if not less, which was about zero.

"Fine." he gave in and a smirk crept onto his face before snatching up a bear and a penguin. He launched both at the same time at Alice and Pansy. Alice ducked and Pansy jumped. Blaise seized the opportunity and threw three plushies towards Alice all at once while Draco started his second round of attack and chased after a squealing Pansy, one weapon loaded in each hand. In the end, Pansy cleverly switched to the boys' side and all three were firing at Alice who was laughing so hard that she had no strength to fight back and ended up being buried in a small mountain of soft toys – her collection had grown significantly in the past three years just like her wardrobe. The amount of soft toys she owned was about six times her age. Narcissa gave her a lot, not just spiritually, but materially too.

"Hey, not fair. You are older, and stronger. And it's three against ONE!" She said, giggling.

"Not that much older, only a year and two months." Draco grinned, offering a hand to help her up.

"Who was it that said they were two years older than me this morning?" Alice smirked, she tugged Draco down with her and turned to Pansy, "You, traitor!" she used her remaining strength to hurl a dolphin at her laughing friend then collapsed backwards dramatically onto Draco.

"Draco, stitch." Alice pointed to her side. Draco adjusted himself into a sitting position so that Alice's head was resting on his legs and started to gently massage the place that was hurting Alice.

"Princess Alice just exactly how spoiled are you?" Pansy grinned, also sitting down to rest. She and Blaise had both got used to the closeness between Draco and Alice but she still jokes about it sometimes since neither of them minded.

"Extremely." Draco replied for her.

2.3 - School Shopping

On Sunday Lucius and Narcissa took both children to Diagon Alley to buy the things Draco would need for school. They first visited Gringotts and after a crazy cart ride, they arrived outside the Malfoy's vault. The goblin unlocked the door and merlin, it was a massive vault. The Malfoys _were _extremely rich. The shining mountain of galleons heaped at least three meters high and apart from the gold, there were also impressive mounds of jewels – diamonds, rubies, pearls and much more. Alice remembered that when she first saw the place, she almost expected to see a dragon nesting on the large piles of treasure, guarding them. They loaded their money bags then returned to the ground. Alice squinted her eyes at the sudden brightness.

"I don't need to buy the books since Godfather already gave a set to me as my birthday present…I have almost finished reading _The Standard Book of Spells. _And I already have the equipment for potions as Godfather set me work on making potions and drafts frequently. However I do need a wand and a telescope. I also need school uniforms." Draco said, glancing at the list again. Alice stood by his side eating a lemon flavoured ice cream.

"Well, to make things efficient, I'll take you to Madam Maukin's and then I'll go get a telescope for you while your father goes to Flourish and Blotts to buy a few books he wants. Alice do you want to stay with Draco or come with me?" Narcissa asked.

"I'll go with Draco if that is alright mum." Alice replied sweetly.

"Of course dear." Narcissa smiled fondly at her. The family went with the plan and soon Alice found herself sitting on a leather bench in Madam Maukin's as Draco stood on a footstool, being measured. Just as the witch started pinning the robe for Draco, the door of the shop was pushed open and a boy with black hair stepped in. Alice stopped in mid-action.

It was Harry Potter.

Small and skinny with black hair and green eyes, Sellotaped round glasses- that's definitely him. Madam Maukin went up to Harry and greeted him.

"Hogwarts, dear?" she said, **_"Got the lot here – another young man being fitted up just now, in fact." And she waved a hand towards Draco's direction. Madam Maukin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length. _**Alice exchanged a look with Draco. She had told Draco the previous night about what would possibly happen on the day from what she could remember from the books.

"Hello," said Draco, "Hogwarts too?" He tried to be friendly, as Alice had told him to be yesterday evening but he really didn't see what's so special about the boy who survived.

"Erm, yes." Harry replied.

"I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy. And this is my friend Alice." he introduced himself and Alice. Alice waved at Harry, "What's your name?"

"Harry, Harry Potter." The boy expected to get the same sort of reaction he had just received at the Leaky Cauldron but Draco just nodded. _Perhaps he hasn't heard of me. _Harry thought. Nevertheless, he was relieved. He didn't feel like he was ready for another round of the overwhelming interest shown just now. There was a few moments of pause when neither of the boys spoke.

"So is it true then? That you knew nothing about the Wizard World until very recently?" Draco suddenly asked, he was curious if the things Alice had read in her previous life were true. Harry looked startled. How did this boy know? So did it also mean that he _had_ heard of him?

"Er…yeah…" he replied, nervous. Draco looked towards Alice who had a I-told-you-so look on her face.

"That's too bad." Draco said out of courtesy, he really didn't care. As far as he was concerned, this boy had nothing to do with him. His attention was caught by a man outside.

"I say, look at that man!" Draco exclaimed. Although Alice had told him about Hagrid, he was still a bit shocked at Hagrid's size. Harry and Alice both looked towards the front window. The half giant was holding two large ice-creams, grinning.

"That's Hagrid," said Harry, "he works at Hogwarts."

"I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?" Draco questioned, thinking about what Alice had told him.

"He's the gamekeeper." Said Harry. He was liking Draco less and less every second.

"I know." Draco sneered.

"That's you done, my dear." Madam Malkin said to Draco who was very bored by this point. He nodded and stepped off the footstool.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose." He drawled. Draco payed for the clothes then took Alice's hand and led her outside where Narcissa was already waiting.

"Bye Harry." Alice waved again as they left. Harry didn't reply.

They went next door to Flourish and Blotts where Lucius was still shopping for books and Draco and Alice each picked a few books they wanted to read. One of the books Alice had bought was _Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle you Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more) by Professor Vindictus Viridian_. Afterwards they went to Scribulus Writing Instruments to purchase some quills and parchment for Draco then the family payed a visit to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary and Draco bought some ingredients for potion before stepping into Eelyops Owl Emporium to buy an owl for Draco. The shop was located at the North Side of Diagon Alley. It was relatively small and dark inside, probably because owls are nocturnal creatures. Many different colours and species of owls hung in cages. Some were sleeping, one or two were arranging their feathers, a few were eating and the rest were watching the customers as they walk by their cages. Draco decided on a fierce looking Eagle Owl which was the most expensive of all the species and his parents paid the 15 galleons as well as some silver sickles for the highest priced owl snacks, a silver cage and other necessary products. Finally, the four entered Ollivander's Wand Shop.

It was exactly like how the first Harry Potter had described it. **_Peeling gold letters over the door of the shop read: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single spindly chair _**in the corner. Thousands of narrow boxes containing wands were piled right up to the ceiling and the whole place **_seemed to tingle with some secret magic_**. Mr Ollivander greeted them, **_his wide pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop. _**He measured Draco while Alice watched curiously.

After trying a few wands, Draco finally found the wand that chose him. As he gave it a swish, green and silver ribbons of light shot out from the tip. Narcissa and Lucius smiled knowingly and Alice's eyes widened in amazement. Draco himself looked very happy and maybe even a little smug.

"Aha, this is the one. 10 inches, Hawthorn wood with a unicorn hair core. Reasonably springy. " Olivander told them.

"I want a wand too." Alice sighed, eyeing Draco and his new wand enviously as they exited the shop.

"It will be your turn next year, Alice dear." Narcissa said, smiling, her hand on Alice's shoulder. The girl nodded. "Now, where would you two like to go?"

"Quidditch shop!" The two children replied at the same time with a grin on their faces.

"Let's go then!" And the family set off again. Twenty minutes later they came out of the shop with one extra parcel – a Nimbus Two Thousand for Alice as her tenth birthday present.

Late at night, Draco and Alice conversed quietly lying in bed. Alice disliked sleeping by herself so she often ran to Draco and shared his bed.

"So what do you think of Harry?" Alice asked.

"He's alright, nothing special. But really, he's supposed to be the boy-who-lived yet he knows nothing about the Wizard World." Draco snorted.

"Yeah, well, his aunt and uncle are awful. They hate magic. And Dudley, he's such a bully." Alice wrinkled her nose.

"Muggles are idiots." Draco remarked. Alice giggled quietly.

"Not all of them are like the Dursleys." She said fairly.

"Muggles are…_muggles. _They are weak. We are just better than them, father always says."

"Maybe. But try to be friends with Harry, it will be _very_ fun. Trust me." Alice replied.

"Okay, if you say so." Draco drawled, already tired.

"Good night Draco." Alice yawned too. Draco pecked her on the cheek, they exchanged good night kisses every night. Narcissa thought this was very cute.

"Night, Alice." Draco whispered back.

**AN: This is my own interpretation of the family. They are pure blood and they are very proud of it. There is nothing wrong with that. I think pureblood families would be like aristocrats, proud and rich. Draco would be extremely haughty but he would have people that he loves and cares about such as his parents and Alice. (In canon, he shows his anger when Harry mocks him asking him if Narcissa always looks like she's got dung under her nose or is it just when she is with Draco.) And I believe that when he is with them alone, he would show a different side of him. It would be the same with Narcissa and Lucius. Narcissa loves her child just like other mothers, in canon she sends Draco sweets every week during his first year and wants to protect her son desperately when Voldemort regains power. Lucius equally loves his son although he would be even more subtle than Narcissa and would be an extremely strict father but he does care about Draco.**

**Snape has already proved that he can love in canon, with Lily. So it is not impossible at all that he could actually love his adopted child Alice even though he would make inconsiderate and snarky remarks all the time – I think it's a habit.**

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**PS. Imagine a little Draco with his extremely posh accent and soft white blond hair looking at us muggles through those grey/blue eyes with his head held high believing that he is more superior…I think I can eat him.**

**PPS. Yes, I think Alice is part of me. The bad parts probably, as I am not cute like her nor am I any good at magic. Alice is adorable, and she will of course grow up to be beautiful one day. She is just as bad at sport as I am, and her hair is the same shade as mine – black, that looks brown under the sun. I hope she doesn't mind.**


	3. Chapter 3 Part 1

**A/N: Sorry, I'm so indecisive... -.- So I figured I should update frequently...And thus I'll update in parts, instead of chapters...Because it takes too long to write a whole chapter and post it, and long gap means losing track of progress for the readers. It should be easier for you guys this way? Or do you prefer a longer read each time? :/ Please let me know :)**

P.S. The story just started and I've already written an version 2 ending for it...Product of a sleepless teen at 2.a.m. ...

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Chapter 3

3.1 – Hogwarts Express

It's 1st November and Draco was finally leaving for Hogwarts. Alice had been distressed since the night before so naturally she shared Draco's bed again and in the morning she was still in low spirits. She and Draco had never been apart for more than a week as they went everywhere and did everything together. It was definitely stressful for both of them that they would not be able to see each other for more than a month.

"Have you packed everything you need?" Narcissa asked her son as they got ready to leave for London.

"Yes, mum." Draco nodded. Because of Draco's luggage, they were travelling to King's Cross by car. Lucius ordered Dobby to load Draco's two trunks and owl cage into the boot of the Rolls Royce and five minutes later the family was sitting in the luxurious vehicle speeding towards London. The two children sat through almost the entire journey in silence, gazing at the passing scenary out of opposite windows.

They arrived at quarter past ten with plenty of time to spare as the train left at eleven. The four stopped in front of the brick barrier between platform nine and platform ten.

"Alright, Draco, you go first. Straight at the barrier, don't stop." Narcissa told her son. Draco nodded and he walked towards the solid brick struture at a casual pace, pushing his loaded trolley. Then he vanished behind the barrier.

"You next, Alice." Narcissa smiled encouragingly and Alice followed Draco, finding herself on a very packed platform nine and three-quarters. A scarlet steam engine with a sign overhead that said _Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock_ waited next to the platform. Soon they were joined by Lucius and Narcissa.

"This is it Draco, you are going off to Hogwarts all by yourself. Have fun at school and make lots of friends. Don't mix with the wrong sorts of people but I'm sure you know that. The weather is getting cold so dress warmly. Write home often and tell us if you need anything." Narcissa fussed over Draco and smoothed out a crease in his white shirt. Then she planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Love you, mum." Draco mumbled. This was, afterall, the eleven-year-old's first time away from home by himself so he was more or less a little upset.

"Work hard and behave yourself. We'll see you at half term." Lucius briefly told his son.

"Goodbye, father."

At this point, Pansy's parents came towards their direction and greeted them. Soon the adults were in a polite conversation. Alice looked at Draco, her eyes red.

"I don't want you to leave." She murmured, her lower lip trembling. Draco hugged her.

"I'll write twice a week okay?" He repeated his promise.

"But I won't see you for two months. Pansy and Blaise will be gone too. I'll be alone, I don't want to be alone." Alice said miserably, tears falling.

"One year, just one year and you'll be coming with us." Draco said softly, comforting her. Narcissa saw that Alice was crying but didn't leave her conversation with the Parkinsons to console Alice as she knew that Draco could handle it.

"I'll really really miss you Draco." Alice whimpered.

"I'll miss you too Alice."

They talked and hugged but Draco soon had to board the train as a whistle sounded. He found the compartment where Pansy and Blaise were at the front of the train and joined them. There were also two other boys in the compartment. They were thickset and didn't look like they had much brain. Draco ignored them and went straight for the window to say a last goodbye to his parents and Alice. The train began to move and Alice waved, still crying. Draco waved back until they became smaller and smaller in the distance and soon they could no longer be seen.

Narcissa and Lucius stood on either side of Alice both with a hand on her shoulder. They turned around to leave and found themselves face to face with a red haired plump woman who had a young girl by her side, also with flaming red hair. Mrs Weasley gave them a piercing look while Narcissa and Lucius looked down at her with their head held high haughtily. Alice stared at Mrs Weasley who shifted her gaze to the young girl with the same displeased look she had given the two Malfoys. Alice shrank back a little against Narcissa who gave her shoulder a squeeze. Molly Weasley _was_ a fierce woman and Alice felt very uncomfortable with her glare that was clearly full of hatred. Then Mrs Weasley steered Ginny away and they left. The whole thing lasted no more than 5 seconds.

Draco sat down with a heavy feeling in his chest.

"You alright, Draco?" Blaise asked.

"Don't be stupid Blaise." Pansy snapped. Blaise shrugged and went back to reading his book.

"This is Crabbe, and this is Goyle." She introduced, trying to distract Draco from his unhappiness.

"Hello." They said thickly. Draco nodded. The train sped on, taking them further away from London.

Around half past twelve a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and asked, "Anything off the trolley, dears?" So they bought two boxes of Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, 20 Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties and a small basket of Cauldron Cakes. Draco treated his friends and paid for it all even though they all came from rich families - he had more than enough money with him. Narcissa had loaded his dragon skin money bag that Blaise gave him for his birthday with Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. Money had never been, and will never be a problem for the Malfoys, so Draco didn't care about prices. A Malfoy wants, a Malfoy gets. '_If you are rich, act rich. Be generous. Don't have a grudge when spending money.'_ Lucius had taught his son.

Crabbe and Goyle had finished all the food within the hour and when Draco decided to exercise his legs a bit by taking a walk, they followed him in search for more food. They walked down the corridor, and excited chatter could be heard from almost all of the compartments. Draco caught a few high frequency words such as, "Harry Potter"… "On this train"… "Down at the end". He remembered Alice telling him to be friends with Harry and so decided to pay him a visit.

"I'm going to find someone, you two coming with me or not?" He asked Crabbe and Goyle. The two looked at each other then nodded.

"Seriously, I have never met anyone more stupid than you two." Draco remarked bluntly, smirking. They merely shrugged, causing Draco to roll his eyes. "Well come on then."

Like he had heard, they found Harry Potter in a compartment at the end of the train with another boy.

'_Red hair, a Weasley.' _Draco thought. '_What is Potter doing with a Weasley?'_

He slid open their compartment door and entered with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him. Harry looked up at them.

"Well, hello Potter. We meet again." Draco's lips curled into a small smile. Alice had told him to be friendly. Harry's eyes flickered between the other two boys, Draco noticed this.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle." He said carelessly.

"Who are _you_?" The boy sitting with Harry asked. Draco looked towards him.

"I, am Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." He replied. Ron gave a slight cough, probably to hide a snigger. Draco looked at him sharply. Alice had told him to be friendly with Harry, she didn't include anyone else that was with him. And Narcissa had said to stay away from the 'wrong sorts' of people just before he left, the list clearly included the Weasleys. Draco took a step forward.

"No need to ask who you are. You are clearly a Weasley. My father told me the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford. Whose robe are you wearing? Your mum's?" Crabbe and Goyle laughed behind him. Ron turned bright red.

"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." Draco turned back to Harry and held out a hand for him to shake. Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." He said. Draco narrowed his eyes.

"Was that your parents and your sister back there on the platform, Malfoy? Your sister was crying, I had noticed. I don't really think you are the _sort _that is worth crying for. And why does your mum look like she is sniffing dung?" Harry asked, mistaking Alice for Draco's little sister. Draco clenched his fists, he could feel his cheeks flush with anger. The Potter boy was pushing his limit. How dare he insult his family? Draco didn't care what Alice had said anymore. _It will be fun to be Potter's friend?_ He didn't think so. From what he had gathered, Potter was just an ignorant yet arrogant fool who did not understand appreciation. They could never be friends.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly, glaring at Harry. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either."

Harry stood up.

"Say that again."

"Oh, you are going to fight us, are you?" Draco sneered.

"I will, if you don't leave. Now."

"But we don't feel like leaving. These boys are looking for some food, and you seem to have some." Draco replied, casually sitting down on the seat opposite of them. Goyle reached towards the Chocoloate Frogs next to Ron. Ron lunged for Draco but before he even touched him, he was shoved to the side by Crabbe and landed on the floor. The door of the compartment opened with a crash and there stood a girl with bushy brown hair. Hermione Granger.

"What has been going _on_?" She demanded, then she saw Ron on the ground and an angry looking Harry who rushed to his side to help him up. She also saw Draco casually leaning back on the soft seat, an Chocolate Frog eating Goyle and Crabbe who had his eyes glued on Ron as if he was ready to flatten him as soon as Ron moved.

"Have you been _fighting_?" Hermione asked in disbelief. Ron scowled at her.

"And who are _you_?" Draco imitated her tone of voice with a smirk.

"Hermione Granger." She replied briefly, irritated. _Granger, never heard of the last name, definitely not pure blood then. _Draco thought.

"Well, Granger. What we are doing is none your business." Draco advised out of kindness. This is probably the only thing Draco had said so far that Harry and Ron agreed with, although they didn't like how he spoke to the girl.

Then a voice echoed through the train: 'We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.'

"Come on you two, let's go." And Draco gave Ron and Harry one last look each before leading Crabbe and Goyle back to their own compartment, completely ignoring Hermione on his way out.

"And who was that?" Hermione asked.

"Draco Malfoy."

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**Hope you liked it :) Please review and tell me what you think ^^**


	4. Chapter 3 Part 2

A/N: This part is shorter...:/ Hope you like it anyway..

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3.2 – Apart

Hagrid led the first years to the castle and soon they were in the Great Hall, waiting to be sorted into their houses. Draco stood with the rest of the new students in a line with Pansy and Blaise on his right and Crabbe and Goyle on his left. The first years looked around in amazement, at the thousands of candles floating in mid-air, at the glittering golden plates and goblets on the four long tables and at the enchanted ceiling. Professor McGonagall placed a dirty old pointed wizard hat on a four legged stool in front of them. Draco frowned in disgust. _That thing is not going on my head. _He thought, wrinkling his nose. Then the hat broke into a song.

"This is ridiculous." Draco muttered to Blaise who nodded in agreement.

The song finished and everyone else applauded.

Professor McGonagall started to call out names from a roll of parchment. Girls and boys went up to sit on the stool one by one in alphabetical order. The queue became shorter as time progressed and students were sorted into the four houses. There were about half of the original numbers left when "Malfoy, Draco." was called. Draco strolled towards the four-legged stool, brushing past Harry and gave him a smirk on his way. He put the dirty sorting hat on, cringing slightly as he did so. It didn't take long at all before the bewitched object made its decision. Draco heard a mumbled "definitely…" in his head then: "SLYTHERIN!" which was shouted out for the whole of the Great Hall to hear. Up at the High Table where the teachers sat, Snape clapped – for the first time this evening. Draco yanked the hat off of his head to get it away from his beautiful white blond hair as soon as possible and made his way towards the Slytherin table where Crabbe and Goyle were already waiting. Draco shook hands with the Slytherin prefect and greeted the other Slytherin students, almost all of them were pure-blood with one or two half-bloods. And since there weren't as much of pure-blood wizard family as there were of muggle borns and half-bloods which made up the majority of the wizard community, naturally there were less students in the Slytherin House than the other houses. Draco looked up at the High Table which was at the front of the Great Hall, and found his Godfather conversing with another nervous teacher who had a giant purple turban. Then his attention was turned away from them as Professor McGonagall called out: "Parkinson, Pansy." Draco shifted his gaze to his friend who was just putting the hat on her head.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted. Pansy grinned, jumped off the stool and came running to join them. The Slytherin table cheered.

Three more students were sorted and then: "Potter, Harry". Draco looked towards Harry and waited for the result.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Draco sneered, "Of course, with the idiots." Then he returned to his conversation with the Prefect. Professor McGonagall continued with her list and finally the Sorting Ceremony ended with "Zabini, Blaise", who was of course sorted into Slytherin.

Dumbledore got to his feet and beamed at them all.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

Thank you!" And he sat back down.

"Father is right. Dumbledore is crazy." Draco shook his head, "And I would have gone to Durmstrang instead if it wasn't a boy's school and Alice can't go with me." Just then the food appeared on the table and they began eating. Crabbe and Goyle stuffed the food down like there was no tomorrow. Draco shook his head again at the sight and picked up his own knife and fork and began eating with perfect table etiquette.

"Poor Alice, she must be so lonely by herself, with all of us at Hogwarts." Pansy frowned. She sincerely treated Alice as her friend.

Alice lay in her own bed that night. Draco was away, she had to sleep alone. She had been feeling lost all day. She hardly ate anything at dinner which worried Narcissa greatly and climbed in bed early as she really didn't feel like doing anything else. Draco hadn't even gone for one day and she already missed him. She had never felt like this during their occasional times spent apart before. Perhaps it was because she knew there were going to be many more nights ahead of this one that Draco were going to be absent in this time. This was just the first one. Tears crept up again, Alice wiped them away with annoyance. _This is stupid_. She thought. _I cant cry everyday when Draco is not here.  
_But the tears kept coming as Alice thought about Draco, or the lack of Draco. She hugged her giant bunny rabbit tighter. She wondered if Draco lay awake too, unable to fall asleep. Did he miss home? Did he miss her? _Draco wouldn't cry, Draco is brave. Although his eyes lose their sparkle when he is sad._ Alice had noticed. Her mind wandered again. She suddenly realised that she had no other friends apart from Draco, Pansy and Blaise. This was going to be a lonely year. She sighed.

Miles away at Hogwarts, Draco was awake too. His new bed was comfortable, but it felt foreign. Because the Slytherin Dungeon was very spacy, they each had their own room. He missed his parents, he missed home but mostly he missed Alice. Was she crying again?  
_She must feel so lonely by herself. She won't have anyone to play with. _Draco decided to write to her first thing in the morning. He's going to tell her all about Hogwarts.

The next morning Draco woke up early. He washed and dressed then acquired some parchment and a quill, he was going to write his first letters home. It's 'letters', plural, because he was writing two – one for his parents and one for Alice. For the next hour he concentrated hard, pausing now and then to think things through and put them down on the parchment in organised words. Draco finished his letters at about 8 o'clock and made his way to the Owlery. He found his eagle owl perched on an iron bar, already asleep.

"Adler, wake up. I need you to deliver some mails for me." Draco called, gently petting the handsome eagle owl who flapped his wings and eyed him angrily but held out a leg anyway. Draco tied the letters to the out stretched leg.

"To home, okay?" He stroked Alder's soft feathers one more time before the owl took off. Draco watched him soar through the morning sky, disappearing into the distance.

Draco joined his friends at breakfast. He had only taken one bite of his toast when the post arrived. About a hundred owls streamed into the Great Hall, bringing their owners letters and packages. Striegus, one of the family owls, circled Draco's head then dropped two letters onto his lap before flying out of the Great Hall again; probably to the Owlery to get some rest.

Draco opened the first letter, it was from Narcissa.

_Dear Draco,_

_I hope you have enjoyed your first evening at Hogwarts. How was the journey? _

_The Sorting Ceremony went smoothly I assume? You must have been sorted into Slytherin, no doubt about that. _

_Have you made any new friends in your house? I suppose the children in Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad either…But stay clear of the ones in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, they sure will be a bad influence. _

_Tell me when you finish the sweets, I shall send you some more._

_Your father and Alice send their greetings too. Just to let you know, if you have not read hers first, that Alice wrote a letter to you herself._

_Enjoy your time at school and work hard in the lessons. If there are any problems, go to Severus. We look forward to your reply._

_Love,_

_Your mum_

He had included most of the things in his letter already but he thought it would be better if he wrote another one. Draco proceeded eagerly to the second letter that was from Alice.

_Dear Draco,_

_How is Hogwarts? Do you like it? Again, I wish I am there too. You must have met Harry again, how are things between you two? Tell me in detail the things that have happened. _

_I hope you got into Slytherin as you wished and Pany and Blaise are both in Slytherin too I assume. Harry is in Gryffindor, right? The food last night must have been very good, from what I know anyway. How is your dormitary? That, I have no information on. I asked mum to tell me about her time at Hogwarts but it's probably very different to how it is now._

_I miss you already, write back soon._

_P.S. I still don't like sleeping by myself._

_Love,_

_Alice_

Draco smiled at the letter and folded it up to put it back into the perfumed envelope. He was going to keep all of the letters from home, he had decided._ But about Harry Potter…_Draco looked towards the Gryffindor table where most of the noise came from and saw that Harry was talking happily to Ron. He had no post. _Obviously. _Draco smirked. Oh he had wrote all about _Potter_ in his letter already.

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**The thing with number of students in Hogwarts. I've read some post around the web and I agree with the theory that there is about 40 students in each year, roughly 280 in the whole school. There are four houses so 10 first years added to each house. They have lessons with another house so about 20 students in each lesson which seems right.**

**Please review~ ^^**


	5. Chapter 3 Part 3

**A/N: I know that so far, the events are pretty much going the same way as canon but my explaination is that Alice needs to be there to interfere with the events to make them heaven and earth with the original plot. At the moment, I'm doing my best to give it my own thing while Alice is not at Hogwarts and I'll try to make her interfere as much as possible...I have big plans for this story :D I hope you'll be surprised later on :)**

**Thank you to everyone that has read the story so far :)**

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3.3

Adler arrived at Malfoy Manor that evening with Draco's letters. Alice was playing on the swing outside when she noticed the eagle owl swooping towards the manor. She ran back to the building in excitement and launched herself at the just-arrived owl, giving the poor creature quite a fright. The girl took the letters from Adler and fed him some owl snack before running to Narcissa to deliver one of the letters to her.

"Mum! Draco's letters are here!" Alice found Narcissa reading in the drawing room.

"Ah, have they?" Narcissa looked just as pleased as Alice.

Alice handed over the letter for Narcissa and sat down to read her own.

_Dear Alice,_

_Hogwarts is fine. I enjoyed the feast last night. Of course, I have been sorted into Slytherin. So have Pansy and Blaise – I am glad. I made two new friends, Vincent Crabbe and Goyle. But really, I have never seen anyone so thick before. The prefects have been very kind to me. They also let me have my own room***** since there are five first year boys and two share a room which leaves one person who can have a room for himself. However I wasn't pleased that the Slytherin ghost Bloody Baron (Yes there are ghosts here – stupid, I know.) sat next to me during the feast. But you know me, I don't like trouble, so I let him. I just hope he doesn't sit with me every meal, I think I will throw up if he does; he is covered in blood! I accidently touched him and it was extremely unpleasant, the most disagreeable feeling._

_Father is right; Dumbledore is crazy, most of the things he says are nonsense. And last night he said something about a corridor on the third floor. He said it was dangerous and most likely to be fatal if we go there. You would think that a school should be safe wouldn't you? Not some place that's going to get kids killed. Well, father shall hear about this. I have included this in the letter to mum and him._

_I met Potter on the train, he was with a Weasley. You know that family with too many kids than they can afford? Red hair and freckles, robes that are too short. It's true, like father has told us. Anyway, you told me to be friends with him so I offered. But guess what? He turned me down, thinking I'm the 'wrong sort of people'. He is too arrogant for his own good and the Weasley has no good influence on him. That red hair tried to attack me! But Crabbe got him though. They both got sorted into Gryffindor, where they belong, with the hot headed idiots. In conclusion, Potter and I are not on good terms._

_Take care of yourself Alice, eat well and sleep well. I miss you._

_Love,_

_Draco_

Alice looked at the letter and let out a sigh, it seemed like Draco and Harry were bound to be rivals. She couldn't change anything.

Sitting on another couch, Narcissa frowned in disapproval.

"What's wrong, love?" Lucius entered the room and saw the expression on his wife's face. Narcissa passed the letter to Lucius who scanned through it quickly.

"Dumbledore is still crazy as ever!" She exclaimed, "It's a school for Merlin's sake! There should be no danger what so ever."

"He said that something will be stored at Hogwarts this year but he mentioned nothing about it being dangerous. I shall speak to him, he cannot keep such matter from the governers." Being a governer of Hogwarts, Lucius had some power over what's happening at the school and he was certainly not happy that Dumbledore was leaving them in the dark about Hogwarts affairs.

Draco's first three days at Hogwarts had been pretty uneventful. He had Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, Charms with the little elf like Professor Flitwick, Herbology in the greenhouse, History of Magic taught by a ghost – Professor Binns and Astronomy at midnight on Wednesday. He bumped into Harry and Ron down a corridor once. They glared at each other and that was that. His parents and Alice have wrote back – this time only one joined letter, asking him how the lessons were. Narcissa sent him a package of his favourite sweets and Alice included in the mail a drawing of Draco and her on broomsticks, both grinning happily. He smiled at that and kept it on his bedside table with the family photo he had brought with him to Hogwarts.

Then Thursday came.

Flying lessons started on Thursday. Draco was very excited, he hadn't been on a broomstick for days and he missed his Nimbus Two Thousand. What he wasn't happy with though, was that Slytherin would be having the lessons with Gryffindor.

"Although I would love to see Potter falling off of his broomstick, having Flying lessons with Gryffindor just ruins it. Plus, I don't need Flying lessons anyway." Draco said to Blaise and Pansy. They nodded in agreement. All three of them had been flying since they were little and they had all flew on a real broomstick. Draco had told his friends about what had happened between him with Harry and they both decided that they didn't like the Gryffindor boy either.

At three thirty the first years of the two houses were all gathered on the school field. Twenty broomsticks lay in neat lines on the grass. Draco frowned at them. They were old and battered, it was not at all what he had expected. Was it even possible to fly on these things?

"The school can't be that poor. They can't even afford decent broomsticks?" Blaise shook his head, appalled. Draco scoffed.

"If one of them gets injured because of these, the people responsible will get into so much trouble. Including Dumbledore."

And someone did get injured, though mainly due to their own incompetence. Neville Longbottom couldn't control his broom and fell off at twenty feet above the ground when he failed to stop himself rising into the air. Madam Hooch, the teacher, took him to the Hospital Wing after warning the rest of them to stay where they were and leave the broomsticks untouched.

"I can't believe that there are people who can't even ride a broom. I mean, it's not exactly hard, is it?" Draco said as soon as Madam Hooch and Neville were gone. He was mainly aiming this at Harry who he knew had never been on a broom before.

"You are saying this as if you can fly well." Harry said coolly.

"Actually, Potter, I can." Draco smirked.

"Let's see then."

"I know what you are doing Potter. You are winding me up so I'd get into trouble. The thing is, I'm not stupid and hot headed, like a Gryffindor."

"Sure, you are not stupid. But what about Crabbe and Goyle? They don't look very bright to me. And Gryffindors are not stupid or hot headed." Harry glowered at Draco.

"Leave my friends out of this. You, me, want to have a race?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"What race?" Harry asked.

"Broom race of course." Draco continued to lure Harry into his trap.

"Harry! Don't do it. You'll get into trouble. Madam Hooch said we are not allowed to fly while she is away! Plus, you've never been on a broom before. You'll get hurt!" Hermione cut in. Harry considered this for a few moments.

"Oooh, are you scared Potter?" Draco challenged him again. Harry glared at him.

"You wish."

"But Harry…!" Hermione continued.

"This is none of your business Hermione." Ron snapped, "Go on Harry! Beat him!"

"And you were saying that Gryffindors don't act on impulse. Look at him, he is so hot headed that his hair is going to catch fire!" Draco indicated Ron's red hair. The Slytherins sniggered. "So Potter, are you doing this or not?" Harry began to regret. He knew Draco was right, but he wasn't going to back down - He wasn't going to let Draco win. Harry nodded.

"Draco, look what I found." Blaise showed the crowd Neville's Remembrall he had just picked up from the ground where Neville had landed.

"Great. Let the race be on this thing then. Blaise is it alright if you are part of this?" Draco asked. He always asked his friends' consent on things, he never forced them to do things they did not want to do.

"Sure, no problem." Blaise wanted to beat Gryffindor just as much as Draco did.

"Well come up with me then." And they both kicked off, rising into the air. Harry paled slightly, Draco hadn't been boasting, he really could fly well. What had he got himself into?

But Gryffindor are brave. So Harry mounted his broom and kicked the ground to take off too, joining Blaise and Draco who were now hovering 50 feet above the ground. Hermione let out a small gasp while Ron cheered.

"Alright. This is how it's gonna work. Blaise, you throw the ball as far as possible. Potter, you and I are going to go after it and try to catch it. Whoever gets it wins." Draco explained briefly. Blaise nodded.

"Be careful Draco!" Pansy called out from below. Draco smiled at her.

"Ready when you are, Blaise." He said. And Blaise threw the Remembrall, as hard as he could, into the air. Draco and Harry dashed off after it, shoulder to shoulder. The girls shrieked and screamed. Draco jerked to his right, into Harry and knocked him hard. As Harry steadied himself on the broom, Draco zoomed ahead, diving sharply downwards to catch the glass ball. Harry was now half a broom behind Draco, he tried to catch up but they were racing closer to the ground, fast. Then, it ended. About five foot above the ground Draco reached out and caught the Remberall. Harry lost.

They pulled themselves upright on the broom and their feet touched the ground, Draco's landing more gentle than Harry's. Draco held up the Remembrall triumphantly and his fellow Slytherins cheered.

"HARRY POTTER AND DRACO MALFOY!" Professor McGonagall's shout came behind them. Draco silently cursed while Harry shivered.

"How _dare _you two! Come with me this instant! Never, in all my time at Hogwarts-" She looked furious. The professor gave the other students a warning look and led the two away. They followed her down the deserted corridors until they stopped in front of a classroom in the dungeon. Professor McGonagall knocked on the door and they were greeted by Snape.

"What is the matter?" He glanced at a miserable looking Harry and an annoyed Draco.

"Severus, you wouldn't _believe _what I just saw these two doing! – A fifty-foot dive on brooms trying to catch a glass ball! How appalling!" She exclaimed. Snape narrowed his eyes at Draco who avoided meeting his gaze. "Well, since Mr Malfoy is your house's student, I shall leave him with you. Mr Potter, come with me." And with that she led Harry away again.

"I have a class to teach Draco. Detention, tonight at eight, in my office. Now go back to your lesson." Snape said in a low yet hard voice.

"Yes, sir." Draco turned around to leave. They had agreed that their relationship will not be revealed at Hogwarts since students may talk and so Draco calls Snape 'sir' like everyone else.

"First week here and you are already causing trouble!" Snape snapped, looking furious. Draco and him were in his office after dinner, Draco was doing his detention.

"Please, Godfather, let me explain." Since they were alone, Draco addressed him the usual way.

"Please do." Snape said slowly.

"I was challenging Potter. And I won." He explained extremely briefly, Draco knew Snape didn't like people to ramble on about things.

"And that is suppose to make it better?" Snape questioned, although he did seem less angry. He was satisfied with the answer. Draco didn't reply, he looked down. There was a moment pause. Then Snape spoke again.

"You didn't batter that useless head of yours did you? Or any other body parts for that matter? Because I'm suppose to be responsible for you while you are here. What am I going to tell your father and mother if you break yourself the first week?" He asked, which was really his strange way of showing concern.

"No Godfather, I'm fine. And I'm sorry for the inconvenience I have caused."

"Good that you know." Snape smirked, "Now, I have heard that Gryffindor is going to use Potter as Seeker this year…" Draco lifted up his head.

"What? They can't! First years…"

"Be quiet!" Snape interrupted him, "I know what the rules are. But if they are breaking the rules, so can we. You said you won the race with Potter, do you think you can win him again? In a bigger competition?" Draco's face lit up.

"Of course Godfather! I'll crush him so hard that he won't even remember his own parents, not that he does anyway." Snape looked at him sharply.

"Enough! Don't bluff. I'll consider it." Snape said, "Now, go back to your dormitary."

"Good night Godfather."

And Snape was left alone, thinking about those green eyes…

* * *

**Snape and Lily... :(**

***I've said before that they each had their own room but I've changed it slightly. I think it's better this way..  
**

**P.S. I hope I did not offend any Gryffindors out there... :/ These are Draco's opinion...And I think you all know Draco... **


End file.
